Trick or treating? No, it's fucking guising!

[ICanSeeForMiles]

My 7 year old asked me this morning if we were going trick or treating (as told by his teacher) and I was like this

We're not American, it's guising in these parts. I know this isn't AIBU, but am I?!

[prettybird]

It is indeed guising and the guisers need to do a piece (song or joke - the closest thing to a "trick or treat" ) before they get any goodies.

[HirplesWithHaggis]

YANBU at all, and neither is prettybird! I raised my dc guising, and I'm delighted to say that dgs (6yo) also guises.

It's the whining on MN every year about why we're importing American traditions, when said American traditions started with the Scots and Irish who emigrated there, not always with joy in their hearts either, that annoys me. Fgs, educate yourselves, people!

[/rant]

[ICanSeeForMiles]

my ds was practicing his jokes this morning after I told him he's got to have a piece... can't wait!

[HirplesWithHaggis]

I shall however, shamefacedly admit to carving pumpkins in later years, rather than neeps. They're just sooooooo much easier!

And I was quite proud of my ingenuity when I left it too late one year to buy a pumpkin, when I was working as a childminder. We did sweet bell peppers with birthday cake candles.

[ICanSeeForMiles]

Haha, I struggle to chop a neep to cook, let alone carve it.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

YANBU. It is definitely guising, and I require all callers to do a party piece befire they get anything.

Also a pumpkin carver though Although they had none is Asda today

[HirplesWithHaggis]

I have a neep lurking in the bottom of my fridge - dh bought it with carrots and onions in one of those stew packs, gawd alone knows why. I am ignoring said neep in the hope that dh can come up with some use for it.

[AnnaMarlowe]

Angels wash your mouth out! It's guising here and the only people I know that say 'trick or treating' are non Scots.

No sweets without a party piece here either.

[prettybird]

No pumpkins in the big Tesco!

Was in a panic planning a neep lantern and then I remembered the red pepper one mentioned on here, so I knew I had a backup plan

Fortunately Sainsbury's still had pumpkins!

[BlueThursday]

Love the smell of a candle in a turnip; takes me back 25 years

[MintChocAddict]

I was at a big Tesco yesterday prettybird (maybe same big Tesco?) and there were only about 20 left.

DCs were giving me dirty looks for leaving it so late as I raked through the pumpkin pile. Most of them had started to go foosty and had holes in oozing manky innards. Boak!

Will be organised next time.

And yes, of course it's guising!!!! Down with this trick or treating patter.

[ASAS]

I said guising in a nursery yesterday. Might as well have been talking Klingon ha ha.

It's very trick or treaty round here (we're the kid on posh houses you see).

[Hexenbeast]

It can have lots of names.

It can be called mumming, where people dress up to ward off spirits as part of Samhain which was a sort of harvest festival, moving into winter festival.

Or it's Souling from way before it went to America, in about 1000ad when children (or poor adults) would go round begging for coins or food in turn for a song on the Christian All Soul's Day.

Scotland and Ireland then had guising.

It was immigrants (particularly from Ireland) who revived the celebration of Halloween in the States and started talking about 'Trick or treat' in the 20s.

[familysizepack]

Definitely guising.

DS1 says he's going to call it trick or treat. I'm not.

I also make them do their 'turn'. 2 yo DS2 did twinkle twinkle last year. I'll no be able to stop him this year

[prettybird]

Twas the Silverburn Tesco Extra.

The pumpkins in Sainsbury's were still good - although not that many of them left.

I have soooo much respect now for my mum for the patience she must have had to scoop out turnip lanterns (two of them - one for my brother too). I do vaguely remember her complaining about how tough it was, but I don't think I ever properly thanked her or appreciated the effort.

I live in the "big hooses" too, so some years we get no guisers, some years we get a few. Ds enjoys the left overs - he's too old now at 15 to go out.

[ExasperatedAlmostAlways]

Nope no one around here says guiding, it's trick or treating luckily, I hate guising.

[ExasperatedAlmostAlways]

*guising

[mawbroon]

Guising for me too. My kids did pumpkins but I did a turnip. I used to get all annoyed re pumpkins, but I reckon if we'd had pumpkins here back in the day, we would have used them too.

[HirplesWithHaggis]

Guising - offering entertainment in return for reward (cash, monkey nuts, satsumas, sweeties...)

Trick or treating - demanding money with menaces.

Why would you prefer the latter?

[SenecaFalls]

It's the whining on MN every year about why we're importing American traditions, when said American traditions started with the Scots and Irish who emigrated there, not always with joy in their hearts either, that annoys me. Fgs, educate yourselves, people!

Indeed. However, as a descendant of those Scots and Irish settlers, I feel the need to point out that trick or treating is partly derived from guising.

[BelindaBagwash]

Definitely not Trick of Treating - more American rubbish imported into our culture.

It was always guising when we were young - admittedly quite a long time ago - and I remember the agony of carving my neepie lantern. Also the lingering smell of neep that seemed to last about a week!

[HirplesWithHaggis]

Seneca, I know ToT derives from guising, and that's fine. Customs change over time, we don't stick decapitated heads on spikes round the village any more (the origin of lanterns, whether neep or pumpkin, apparently) and that's fine too.

For some reason, guising didn't spread beyond the Celtic fringes in the UK. It went to the US with emigrants, and changed a bit, and now we all watch American telly the changed version has "come home", and spread to the rest of the UK.

Now some in rUK complain it's American (as if that's some terrible sin) without ever even knowing about the origins. It's that ignorance that irks, that some of us have been celebrating Hallowe'en for generations and we're the next door neighbours, how come it wasn't noticed before?

And to see our thousand-year old traditions "taken over" by ToT in our own homeland (rUK can do what it wants) makes me sad, and thrawn about insisting on the word "guising", and dookin for apples, and sticky scones dangling from above, and all sorts of other superstitious bollox, if that makes any sense?

[SantanaLopez]

Personally, it's trick or treating, but you aren't getting anything if you don't do a turn or forget your manners.

[anothernumberone]

We called it trick or treating in Ireland in my day although I have heard the term guising before. We used to say 'penny for the puca' which translates as penny for the ghost or 'trick or treat' going around the houses.